leave your “expert” hat at the door: embracing critical
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University of ConnecticutOpenCommons@UConn
Published Works UConn Library
2016
Leave Your “Expert” Hat at the Door: EmbracingCritical Pedagogy to Create a Community ofLibrarian LearnersMarisol RamosUniversity of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected]
Jennifer SnowUniversity of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected]
Sharon GiovenaleUniversity of Connecticut, [email protected]
Kathleen LabadorfUniversity of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected]
Dawn CadoganAmherst College, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/libr_pubs
Part of the Information Literacy Commons
Recommended CitationRamos, Marisol, Dawn Cadogan, Sharon Giovenale, Kathleen R. Labadorf, and Jennifer Snow. "Leave Your “Expert” Hat at the Door:Embracing Critical Pedagogy to Create a Community of Librarian Learners," in Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook edited by NicolePagowsky and Kelly McElroy, 197-201. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American LibraryAssociation, 2016.
Association of College and Research LibrariesA division of the American Library Association
Chicago, Illinois 2016
Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook Volume 1: Essays and Workbook Activities edited by Nicole Pagowskyand Kelly McElroy
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of Ameri-can National Standard for Information Sciences–Permanence of Paper for Print-ed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. ∞
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pagowsky, Nicole, editor. | McElroy, Kelly, editor.Title: Critical library pedagogy handbook / edited by Nicole Pagowsky and Kelly McElroy.Description: Chicago : Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 2016.Identifiers: LCCN 2016010846| ISBN 9780838988466 (pbk. : v. 1) | ISBN 9780838988473 (PDF : v. 1) | ISBN 9780838988480 (epub : v. 1) | ISBN 9780838988497 (kindle : v. 1) | ISBN 9780838988503 (pbk. : v. 2) | ISBN 9780838988510 (PDF : v. 2) | ISBN 9780838988527 (epub : v. 2) | ISBN 9780838988534 (kindle : v. 2)Subjects: LCSH: Information literacy--Study and teaching. | Information literacy--Problems, exercises, etc. | Academic libraries--Relations with faculty and curriculum. | Library orientation. | Information resources--Evaluation--Study and teaching. | Electronic information resources--Evaluation--Study and teaching. | Critical pedagogy. | Reflective teaching.Classification: LCC ZA3075 .C75 2016 | DDC 028.7071/1--dc23 LC record avail-able at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010846
Copyright ©2016 by the Association of College and Research Libraries.All rights reserved except those which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 ofthe Copyright Revision Act of 1976.
Printed in the United States of America.
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iii
Table of Contentsvii ����Foreword
James Elmborg
xv ����Acknowledgments xvii ��Introduction
Nicole Pagowsky and Kelly McElroy
1 �������Chapter 1� Falling out of Praxis: Reflection as a Pedagogical Habit of MindHeidi LM Jacobs
9 ������Chapter 2� Learning from Teaching: A Dialogue of Risk and ReflectionAnne Jumonville Graf
17 �����Chapter 3� How Unplanned Events Can Sharpen the Critical Focus in Information Literacy InstructionIan Beilin
25 ����Chapter 4� “Taking Back” Information Literacy: Time and the One-Shot in the Neoliberal UniversityKaren P. Nicholson
41 �����Chapter 5� At Odds with Assessment: Being a Critical Educator within the AcademyCarolyn Caffrey Gardner and Rebecca Halpern
53 ����Chapter 6� What Standards Do and What They Don’tEmily Drabinski and Meghan Sitar
65 ����Chapter 7� Barriers to Critical Pedagogy in Information Literacy TeachingGr Keer
75 �����Chapter 8� Loading Examples to Further Human Rights EducationLisa Janicke Hinchliffe
Iv TABLE OF CONTENTS
85 ����Chapter 9� Social Constructivism and Critical Information LiteracyJessica Critten and Andrea G. Stanfield
93 ����Chapter 10� Finding and Analyzing Information for Action and Reflection: Possibilities and Limitations of Popular Education in One-Shot Library InstructionKenny Garcia
101 ���Chapter 11� Collaborative Pedagogies: LIS Courses and Public Library PartnershipsJessica Hochman
111 ����Chapter 12� What Is Possible: Setting the Stage for Co-Exploration in Archives and Special CollectionsPatrick Williams
121 ���Chapter 13� Of the People, by the People, for the People: Critical Pedagogy and Government InformationMelanie Maksin
131 ���Chapter 14� The Failed Pedagogy of Punishment: Moving Discussions of Plagiarism beyond Detection and DisciplineKevin P. Seeber
139 ���Chapter 15� Queering Library Instruction for Composition: Embracing the FailureAshley P. Ireland
151 ���Chapter 16� Search and Destroy: Punk Rock Tactics for Library InstructionCaitlin Shanley and Laura Chance
161 ���Chapter 17� Cultivating a Mind of One’s Own: Drawing on Critical Information Literacy and Liberal EducationElizabeth Galoozis and Caro Pinto
171 ���Chapter 18� Reflections on the Retention Narrative: Extending Critical Pedagogy beyond the ClassroomAlison Hicks and Caroline Sinkinson
185 ���Chapter 19� We Don’t Count: The Invisibility of Teaching Librarians in Statistics on Academic Instructional LaborAliqae Geraci
Table of Contents v
197 ���Chapter 20� Leave Your “Expert” Hat at the Door: Embracing Critical Pedagogy to Create a Community of Librarian LearnersMarisol Ramos, Dawn Cadogan, Sharon Giovenale, Kathleen R. Labadorf, and Jennifer Snow
203 ��Chapter 21� Starting Small: Practicing Critical Pedagogy through Collective ConversationMegan Watson and Dave Ellenwood
207 ��Chapter 22� Developing a “Critical Pedagogy Disposition”Donna Witek
213 ���Chapter 23� Resistance Is Fertile: (Or Everything I Know about Teaching I Learned in Yoga Class)Robert Schroeder
217 ���Chapter 24� Using Personal Reflection to Incorporate Antiracist Pedagogy in Library InstructionMelissa Kalpin Prescott
223 ��Chapter 25� Critical Self-Reflection: Moving Inward to Provide Outward ServiceXan Goodman
229 ��Chapter 26� Carrots in the Brownies: Incorporating Critical Librarianship in Unlikely PlacesMaura Seale
233 ��Chapter 27� Fresh Techniques: Getting Ready to Use Hip Hop in the ClassroomDanielle Rowland
239 ��Chapter 28� Course Materials: Reinforcing Dominant Narratives or Challenging MindsetsElizabeth Mens
243 ��Chapter 29� Information Worlds and You: Harnessing Theory for InstructionJulia Skinner
247 ��Chapter 30� Documenting Your Critical JourneyNicole A. Cooke
251 ���About the Authors
197
CHAPTER 20*
Leave Your “Expert” Hat at the DoorEmbracing Critical Pedagogy to Create a Community of Librarian LearnersMarisol Ramos, Dawn Cadogan, Sharon Giovenale, Kathleen R. Labadorf, and Jennifer Snow
IntroductionThe purpose of these activities is to bring together an open-minded community of learners that will foster a critical pedagogy environment among librarians in their workplace. In this way, librarians can reflect on their instruction and develop new skills and insights that will benefit both themselves and their stu-dents.
Outcomes• Establish an engaged community of learners• Provide a safe environment where critical vulnerability is allowed
for critical pedagogy to be learned and applied to library instruction practice
* This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0).
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• Foster self-reflection and self-reflexivity among members to improve and deepen practice
• Share the lessons learned with the broader library community
Establishing a Community of Learners: ConsiderationsBefore you begin a critical pedagogy community of learners at your institu-tion, there are a few questions you need to answer. Addressing the issues in table 20.1 will generate talking points to ensure support for the community.
Table 20.1Considerations Suggestions
1 How will you discover who within your library is interested in critical pedagogy?
• Call for volunteers, e.g., librarians with an interest in instruction
2 How will you develop the group’s charge?
• Uncover your members’ interest within critical pedagogy
• Identify the core issues that you want to learn
• Keep it simple• Be open to future revisions
3 What will the group’s goals be?
• Keep them specific and achievable• Advance ideals delineated in the charge• Ensure goals reflect the varied interests of
group members
4 How should meetings be conducted?
• Set ground rules and meeting norms*• Decide who the facilitator will be• Document ideas, activities, and decisions
* We recommend the NASCO (North American Students of Cooperation) Integrative Facilitation guidelines https://www.nasco.coop/resources/essentials-integrative-facilitation, which can be useful to foment open discussions in a welcoming environment.
Fostering Reflection and Reflexivity within the CommunityEncourage community members to embrace what Marlene Ruck Simmonds calls critical vulnerability, a philosophical and leadership approach that asks individuals to take risks on oppressive systems embedded within academia.1 By creating a community of learners that embraces vulnerability among peers,
Leave Your “Expert” Hat at the Door 199
members can share thoughts, concerns, doubts, and fears related to their prac-tices vis-à-vis the institutional culture they inhabit. There are many ways to ap-ply this approach. For example, you could use existing literature as a guidepost to frame discussions in the community. Set the tone of your group meetings by selecting one practical work and one theoretical. For example:
• Practical reading to provide real risk-taking classroom strategies: “How Do I Get Them to Pay Attention? Classroom Strategies for One-Shot Instruction” in Buchanan and McDonough’s The One-Shot Library Instruction Survival Guide
• Theoretical works to examine how a unidirectional teaching mindset works in opposition to student empowerment: chapter 2 of Paulo Freire’s seminal Pedagogy of the Oppressed or chapter 1, “Engaged Pedagogy,” in bell hooks’s Teaching to Transgress
For the inaugural meeting select readings that will help to unify com-munity members’ common goals in teaching. During discussions, connect readings to actual work experiences and practices. In later meetings, give all members the opportunity to select readings and lead discussions so that each member’s unique interests are given equal time and respect.
Another useful activity is to dedicate time for each member to share their teaching experiences to encourage reflection and reflexivity. In our experience, these shared conversations help members reflect on their practices, underly-ing assumptions, and external factors affecting interactions with students. This activity provides an opportunity for members to shed the role of sage on the stage and embrace and reacquaint themselves with the role of learners as new ideas and practical applications are discussed.
Reflexive Journaling: An Introspective ToolReflexive journaling is an excellent tool to keep track and reflect on our practice both as an individual and as part of a group. To realize the greatest benefits from this group experience, suggest all members put emerging thoughts, reactions, re-flections, and new practices into a personal journal entry regularly. Use this tool to reach back to uncover assumptions or beliefs. How do they hold up? Which ones now need rethinking? How have they changed through this experience?
Each participant is encouraged to keep a journal for their own benefit.Some suggestions to inspire your writing could be• Connections made with previous learning• Thoughts reinforced by a reading or discussion• I have questions about __________.
200 CHAPTER 20
• I will __________ differently because __________.• New insights/ideas
Sharing with Your Library Community and BeyondLeave the comfort of your group of learners and share or discuss your experi-ences with the library community and offer opportunities to increase your col-leagues’ critical consciousness. Use table 20.2 to identify methods for sharing and exchanging ideas with your whole library community.
Table 20.2Key Lesson(Some Suggestions)
Suggested Format Methods of Sharing
Incorporating active learning techniques in the teaching of literature reviews
Informal events to foster open discussion
Brown bags; roundtable discussions; THATCamp-style meeting
Reflexive journaling as a tool for self-improvement and understanding
Open forum for all staff Departmental meetings; town hall
A member’s reflection of lessons learned and ideas for self-improvement, e.g., after an instruction session, reference transaction, conference, or presentation
Personal narratives Staff blogs; library newsletter
ConclusionLibrarians who bring critical pedagogy into their practice and classrooms are not simply “information deliverers.”2 We are professionals who grow and cre-ate knowledge continuously through self-reflection and rigorous intellectual challenge. We are culturally aware and recognize that educational practice ex-ists in political and contested spaces where the historical and cultural aware-ness of the dominant group is accepted as the norm.
We hope these activities inspire library practitioners not to be afraid to leave the role of experts and embrace the role of learners (that mix of joy, fear, wonder, vulnerability, rebellion) as a way to turn everyday practice into the praxis of critical pedagogy.
Leave Your “Expert” Hat at the Door 201
Notes1. Marlene Ruck Simmonds, “Critical Vulnerability: An Imperative Approach to Educa-
tional Leadership,” Journal of Thought 42, no. 1/2 (Spring–Summer 2007): 79–97.2. Joe L. Kincheloe, Critical Pedagogy Primer (New York: P. Lang, 2008), 25.
BibliographyBuchanan, Heidi E., and Beth A. McDonough. The One-Shot Library Instruction Survival
Guide. Chicago: ALA Editions, an imprint of the American Library Association, 2014.
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970.hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Rout-
ledge, 1994.Kincheloe, Joe L. Critical Pedagogy Primer. New York: P. Lang, 2008.Simmonds, Marlene Ruck. “Critical Vulnerability: An Imperative Approach to Education-
al Leadership.” Journal of Thought 42, no. 1/2 (Spring-Summer, 2007): 79–97.
